Thuy Phan/Nguoi Viet
WESTMINSTER, Calif.– Actor Minh Beo appeared at the Superior Court of California, West Justice Center in Westminster Friday morning where the judge set his pretrial hearing to June 29. The pretrial proceeding was originally slated for May 14, but Hong Quang Minh, aka Minh Beo, requested to change attorneys at the last minute.
Actor Minh Beo on May 13 as he awaits the date of his pretrial hearing. (Photo: Dan Huynh/Nguoi Viet)
Minh Beo’s request was accepted and the hearing was postponed for two weeks until this Friday morning, with Mia Yamamoto replacing Vietnamese-American Do Phu as his lawyer. Yamamoto requested another extension for the hearing to be postponed until June 29 and it was granted.
The 38-year-old Vietnamese entertainer pleaded not guilty to all three charges at an arraignment in Santa Ana, California on April 15. The charges include oral copulation of a minor, attempting to commit a lewd act upon a child under age 14, and meeting with a minor with the intent to engage in lewd conduct.
Yamamoto will attempt to have the last felony count, ‘meeting with a minor with the intent to engage in lewd conduct,’ dropped in order to secure a more lenient sentence for her client.
Minh Beo is facing up to five years and eight months behind bars if convicted. However, if the lawyer can prove Minh Beo not guilty of the charge, his imprisonment could be reduced to two years. In Vietnam, where Minh Beo has a strong following, people are awaiting the otucome.
The pretrial hearing is likely to end without all of Yamamoto’s goals achieved, paving the way for many more proceedings for the case.